Did this week drag for anyone else? It was one of those weeks were I thought Wednesday was Thursday- the worst! Maybe it’s the weather and the fact that it’s April and we’ve had snow twice this week. I try to stay positive but unrelenting cold weather is a special kind of torture. Thank god for the 10-day forecast (even though it’s never right) for giving me a glimpse of hope for next weekend. 60 degrees…maybe? I’ll take it! No returns Mother Nature!

Speaking of Mother Nature, are flowers blooming in your neck of the woods? We’ve got daffodils in full bloom here (which I worry about like little children every time it snows or gets frosty outside). They seem to be pretty tough and resilient and despite their appearance, they’re staying strong! I can’t wait to get going on landscaping and planting flowers outside when it gets nice. It’s our first spring/summer in our new home so it will be fun to get things looking all fresh for the first time. Speaking of…if anyone has any great gardening or plant tips send ’em my way! It might be cold still but it’s never too early to start planning. Like they say in “Field of Dreams”: if you plant it spring will come. That’s the right words to the quote, I’m sure.

Hope you all have a relaxing Sunday, and if you’re not, taking some quiet time to read my fun links from around the web this week should help 😉

First Things First

• It’s like Target + Anthropologie had a baby with their new home line Opalhouse releasing today (April 8)! I’ve got heart eyes and a full mental shopping cart over here. Someone hide the credit cards!

Green Things & Health 

• Dr’s writing prescription’s for pilates instead of pills is something I can get behind.
• Ok, I’m really giving a valient effort to kicking refined sugar to the curb, but dang it I still like the ritual of dessert so I’ve been keeping my eye out for anything sans the white stuff. This list is a fab start.
• Exhibit A: These brownies are being made this weekend fo sho.
• So you may have heard the term “microbiome” in connection to gut health before but did you realize that the skin has it’s own microbiome too? Here’s how to optimize it.
• We all know fiber is important, but this article lays out how it can help solve gut problems.
• My husband suffers from allergies big time so I’m thinking that these “Bee Pollen Fat Bombs for Seasonal Allergies” are going on the must-make list. They sound delicious so I’ll probably sneak some too, even though I don’t have allergies.

Pure Fun & Inspiration

• Since I’m a graphic designer by day, a products packaging always intrigues me most. It’s often what gets me to notice it and want to buy it. With the natural/organic product category growing rapidly this article points out the important role design plays in helping a product stand out among the sea of it’s competitors.
• Art museums aren’t for everyone and even when I find them interesting, some exhibits leave me scratching my head. Here’s a funny look at an exhibit of contemporary art at the Hammer Museum at UCLA through the eyes of Will Ferrell and Joel McHale. I was Lol-ing on this one.
• Who else has Don Draper dreams?? Swoooooon. Mad Men is my all time favorite TV show (sorry Full House) and they had an auction of set props (over now but I still had to share). I would have loved to get my hands on something the mad man himself touched (obsessed much??!) or at least that his aura touched! No shame here! Sadly there are people that are just as obsessed as me and also have a lot of excess cash laying around apparently…bids got pricey!
• A list of 85 things to see (movies/shows), hear (music) & read (books) for the month of April. Highlights (without knowing anything about them at all, judging by the cover here folks): https://www.fastcompany.com/40532644/your-creative-calendar-85-things-to-see-hear-and-read-this-april
  • Because the weather here has my husband & I dramatically stating that we’re moving to West Texas and getting little goats, this seemed fitting:
    Amanda Palmer,  I Only Listen To The Mountain Goats: All Hail West Texas, out April 6.
  •  Yoga Girl is always talking about Ram Dass and he has a new movie just out April 6: Ram Dass, Going Home, premieres April 6 on Netflix.
  • I want to watch Handmaids Tale but the subject content is a bit, dare I say, triggering right now while going through fertility treatments: The Handmaid’s Tale, premieres April 25 on Hulu.
  • This book sounds interesting based on what I’m going through in life right now:  And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready by Meaghan O’Connell, out April 10.